In short
Episode topic: Katie Couric interview with Rob Lowe (re-release), mixing TV/journalism discussion with Couric’s cancer advocacy and her media company.
Guests
Katie Couric, former Today Show anchor and journalist; Rob Lowe, actor and interviewer.
Guest backgrounds
Couric started at Today in 1991, later became a major network journalist/manager, and helped launch Stand Up to Cancer; Lowe is a long-running TV/film actor and podcast host.
Key claims
Couric says live broadcasting requires comfort and quick thinking when “the prompter is off,” citing 9/11 as a test of responsibility and timing. She argues mass media is now “niche” due to fragmented sources and distrust. She emphasizes early cancer detection and dense-breast awareness, claiming 45–50% of women 40+ have dense breasts and mammograms may miss cancers without supplemental screening.
Notable examples
Couric describes her own breast cancer diagnosis (tumor “size of an olive,” six months late for mammogram due to COVID), Stand Up to Cancer’s $700M+ raised and FDA-approved drug impact, and dense-breast ultrasound coverage laws in Ohio and other states.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOIntroducing Katie Couric
0:47 to 1:30
Rob Lowe introduces Katie Couric and reflects on their first meeting.
“I just want to get your hair gel, Rob Lowe.”
The Challenges of Live Broadcasting
1:30 to 4:19
Katie Couric shares experiences about the pressures of live television and breaking news.
“I can't believe that we're at a place where I'm interviewing Katie Couric because I can remember being a young actor flying into New York all nervous, rolling up to the Today show.”
Adapting Journalism to New Challenges
4:19 to 8:18
Discussion on how journalism has evolved with technology and media fragmentation.
“You know, it, it, I think it's, it's about your comfort level.”
The State of Morning News
8:18 to 12:18
Analysis of the current state of morning news shows and their content focus.
“Do you feel like that we're still creating the class of journalists that, you know, the Edward R.”
Pop Culture Versus Hard News
12:18 to 14:00
Katie Couric and Rob Lowe discuss the balance between pop culture and serious news.
“I don't think it is as hard as it was once.”
Pop Culture Phenomena: The Kardashians and Rock Music
14:00 to 19:53
Explore the cultural impact of the Kardashians and the evolution of rock music.
“And he said, that's why I do the Sunday show.”
Stand Up to Cancer: Advocacy and Awareness
20:02 to 28:05
Learn about the origins of Stand Up to Cancer and the importance of early detection.
“It's like all of a sudden you can throw it in your beach bag.”
Understanding Dense Breasts and Screening
28:05 to 32:35
Learn about the importance of additional screening for women with dense breasts and the legislative efforts to improve coverage.
“Certainly, 3D mammograms are better than standard mammograms because they give a much fuller picture.”
Katie Couric Media and Its Mission
32:43 to 37:53
Explore Katie Couric's new media venture focusing on significant social issues and storytelling.
“Tell me a little bit before we go also about Katie Couric Media.”
Balancing Work and Personal Life
37:53 to 41:47
Discuss the challenges of maintaining balance while working on multiple projects in media and entertainment.
“Yeah, but we go to LA in the winter for a month or two.”
Show all 15 chapters
Cancer Awareness and Recovery
41:47 to 42:46
Hear about the importance of cancer awareness and supporting adolescents in recovery.
“on the Pleiades or on Sirius or, and I'm not talking about radio, I'm talking about the planet.”
Sharing Insights from the Interview
42:46 to 43:34
Reflect on key takeaways from the recent interview and promote health screenings.
“I immediately am calling Cheryl to make sure she gets her proper checkup.”
Introduction to Lowdown Line
43:34 to 43:51
Get introduced to the lowdown line where listeners can connect with Rob.
Listener's Unique Birthday Experience
43:51 to 45:01
Hear a listener share their memorable birthday experience and ask Rob about his ideal birthday.
“I'm currently sitting in the British Airways Lounge at New York Airport, having just spent a week in New York celebrating my birthday, delayed by a year for the pandemic.”
Rob's Ideal Birthday Celebrations
45:01 to 46:28
Discover Rob Lowe's ideas for the perfect birthday celebrations in various dream locations.
“And you're so right, by the way, about that magnolia pudding.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Hey everybody, this is Paul Scheer. I host the comedy podcast How Did This Get Made along with June Diane Rayfield and Jason Manzoukas. And every week we break down the best of the worst movies ever made. This week on How Did This Get Made, we are celebrating our 400th episode by breaking down one of the most obscure movies that we have ever covered. It's a truly baffling rare gem. It's called Circus Island. It has a magical circus island, a weird family made up of multiple twins. And oh, by the way, everybody in the cast is related. And it centers on a man whose dream it is to be a trapeze artist.
0:32Oh, and there's a ghost too. You see, this movie is hard to break down. So why don't you just listen to us break it down by going to How Did This Get Made, wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, the movie that we're talking about is Circus Island. But if you fall in love with another title, listen to that as well.
0:47Katie Couric:I just want to get your hair gel, Rob Lowe. You like it? I do. It's a little... No, you look so cute.
1:07Hey, everybody. Rob Lowe here. It's Literally, and I have got my big boy pants on today because I've got a real journalist, and I don't want to embarrass myself. And it's my favorite kind of journalist. Smart, funny, and dare I say it, the OG America's sweetheart. Katie Couric, I mean. Come on. Huh? Huh? I can't believe that we're at a place where I'm interviewing Katie Couric because I can remember being a young actor flying into New York all nervous, rolling up to the Today show. It's like 4.30 in the morning LA time. And there's Katie Couric all bright eyed and bushy tailed. And I'm like, and that's my turn.
1:56Katie Couric.
2:03I was trying to think of the first time you and I ever, it would have been the Today show for sure, of it. I feel like it must have been a billion years ago.
2:10Katie Couric:It was probably, you know, I think back on when I started at the Today Show in 1991 and that was a long time ago, Rob. I mean, crazy, right? A long, and you know, on my end of it, it was always like, okay, you're going to New York to promote this movie or TV show and you're going to do the Today Show. And then it was like, well, who's interviewing me? Because there was always like that, like you wanted you, like I, like you want Katie, but sometimes you didn't get lucky. Oh, that's so nice. That's such a sweet thing to say. Thank you. But everybody has it, right? And it goes on to this day when you go, when you do the morning shows, it's like, oh boy, I got, you know, I drew the, I drew the short straw.
2:53Katie Couric:I think everyone does a pretty good job. I think, you know, people have different approaches. I I think Bryant was a little more prickly, right? A little bit and just a bit, a tougher customer, I think. But I think Bryant, you know, had a little bit more of an edge. Yeah, you never knew. Yeah, you're right. It's all coming back to me now. It was always like he was super smart, super articulate. You knew you were going to go into interesting places, but you also didn't know if he was going to bolo punch you in the middle of the interview. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I mean, again, I think Bryant was one of the most talented, is one of the most talented broadcasters.
3:34Katie Couric:And certainly when I worked with him, he was just unbelievably gifted, Rob, in terms of doing live television. And I learned an awful lot from him. I mean, just so quick on his feet, so good at, you know, talking for seven seconds when you had seven seconds before the commercial break, you know, and I'd be like, well, you'd be like one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Thank you. But it's true. You do see that not everybody can, can do that. And you see it when there's breaking news and all of a sudden the, the prompter is off. Yeah. Yeah. And, and the person who you've watched forever on TV is like, can't string words together.
4:17It happens.
4:18Katie Couric:Yeah. Yeah. You know, it, it, I think it's, it's about your comfort level. The more you do it, the more comfortable you feel. You know, it took me a long time to really just be able to talk naturally on television and to kind of roll with the punches because it is hard. And I remember on 9-11, Rob, where all this news was coming in and bits and pieces and trying to put together and trying to fill the time while we got somebody else. And I mean, that was so insane. And of course, it was such a critically important day. And it was such an enormous responsibility to tell people what was going on.
5:06Katie Couric:But I had been doing the show for, gosh, I think 10 years. And I'm glad that I had those 10 years under my belt when that day happened. Well, and also, as a human being, what you're feeling in New York, the personal adrenaline on top of all that pressure must have been unbelievable. It was terrifying. Terrifying. Terrifying. Yeah, because you had all these parents running to schools to pick up their kids. And our nanny was at NYU taking classes. My kids were at school. I was working. I had a friend who was on a plane from Boston who I didn't know whether that was one of the hijacked planes. My parents lived in Northern Virginia when the Pentagon thing happened.
6:01Katie Couric:That was terrifying because you just didn't know. You had no sense of how many planes were out there, how many hijackers were on, how many planes. So it was really, really scary because there was so little known about what was happening. I can't even imagine just in terms of the broadcasting, there's the thing when big events happen, say, for example, in sports, a walk-off home run or whatever. The industry standard now is let the moment play for itself. Don't talk over it necessarily. Right. But when it's a tragedy, what do you say? What do you not say? I mean, I can't imagine the pressure of having to both be a human watching it and having the feelings, but then having to edit them through the prism of being live on the air.
6:59Katie Couric:You know, I remember Tom Brokaw came in sort of a few hours into 9-11, and I was just in awe of his eloquence and his timing and the way he summoned words, you know, in an instant and how they always felt so appropriate. Right. and insightful. It's a real gift and a real talent people have. Tom is amazing, one of the best. I think Bob Costas is as well. Bob is just, I think, in a league of his own, so to speak, when it comes to sportscasting. He's just such a wordsmith. And again, has that insight that always feels like there's value added. Yes. It's not sort of superfluous. And it's just always insightful.
8:11Katie Couric:So yeah, I mean, there are some real masters, master class broadcasters out there. So we all know that journalism has changed so much and continues with social media and the state of television, such as it is or isn't. Do you feel like that we're still creating the class of journalists that, you know, the Edward R. Murrows, the Walter Cronkites, the you, all of the people that have traditionally been around in traditional media? Now, the media is not traditional. Where are those people coming from and are we getting them? I think that, you know, still in traditional media, there are people who are doing incredible work and they're really handling situations, doing breaking news, doing very insightful interviews.
9:06Katie Couric:I think because everything is so fragmented, they're just no longer becoming the household names they were when there were fewer options. So, you know, I don't think there's a small group of trusted voices that are known by everyone. And I often say mass media has become an oxymoron because it's just, it's niche media. It's everyone getting information from different sources, a different kind of sort of panoply of information that may come from your phone, from social media, from the New York Times or the Atlantic. And everybody, I think, is putting together or fashioning their own media diets, if you will.
9:59Katie Couric:So as a result, you know, you just, I mean, when I started out and I think about this a lot, there were three, really three established networks. Cable news had just started, but in terms of really the lion's share of ratings, you had the three morning shows and you didn't have iPhones until 2007, 2008. so really after I left the Today Show. So, you know, in the morning now, I look at my phone. I see what's going on. I read my newsletters, and I don't rely on television nearly as much because it's all in the palm of my hand. We have little mini TVs now. And by the time that's the, God forbid, the nightly news, you've had 3 ,000 opportunities to see what the news is.
10:49So why do you need to see the person at night giving you the news?
10:55Katie Couric:Well, sometimes I think there is something nice about someone sort of reviewing the day's news and someone curating it for you and showing you the pictures and kind of getting it in 22 minutes because that's all the nightly news is, 22 minutes without commercial breaks. So, you know, I still think that can serve a purpose, but there's not a lot of depth, as I found out in the nightly news, because you just don't have time. I was going to ask you about that, because not only were you the first woman to have the big seat at one of the big three, but you also were, and it's not the right term, you weren't the editor, but you were managing editor.
11:36managing you were a managing editor so like i i i can imagine what it's like on the morning shows because when i grew up in the morning shows were pretty much hard news i mean they had entertainment and they had but now it's all i mean the only place doing hard news in the morning is cbs morning news as far as i can tell and the other ones are more they just are they just are not that's not
11:57Katie Couric:where they go really well i i don't know if that's fair because i do think for the first half hour or so when I watched the Today Show and I'm still loyal to the Today Show. I know. I like that. I like you guys. I don't know if that's true. I like it. You stood up for the old team. But they do breaking news and harder news. I don't think it is as hard as it was once. But I think even by the time I left the morning, you know, the Today Show, Rob, It was less and less sort of serious news. And I think they were responding to attention spans getting shorter and the fragmentation that was happening with desktops and more media outlets.
12:51Katie Couric:So I do think they still try to do hard news. And I think they do a very good job. And you've got really, you know, very serious journalists like George Stephanopoulos and Savannah covering those important stories. So. By the way, George is a great interview. I mean, and George is a guy, he's got a, he's got a little Bryant in him. Like he, he, he's, and I love him. We have great times when I'm on the show. I think I'm going on the show in a couple of weeks and, but he's one of those guys that can do the entertainment stuff and then hit you with the ball of punch too. Yeah, I think he prefers the sort of harder news.
13:28Katie Couric:I filled in for Robin Roberts before my syndicated show started. And I remember like at 720, they were doing JLo and I guess her Casper. Remember, she was dating one of her dancers for a while. And their new music video was coming out. And I think they must have been showing it at like 720 or something. And I turned to George and I said, oh my God, how do you do this every day? Meaning, and I like pop culture as much as the next person, but it just seemed like, wow, it was really early for J-Lo. And he said, that's why I do the Sunday show. I remember turning to Whoopi early in one of the Vue appearances.
14:18Because I've known Whoopi since the early 80s. And those girls are all – I love doing the Vue because it's like being pecked to death by wonderful women. From my perspective, it's great. I feel very puffed up when I leave there. But when they were talking about the Kardashians, I looked at the break. I said, how do you do it? She goes, I told them when I came here, I will not talk about the Kardashians. I won't do it. So hilarious where we'll be carved out like I'll do the pop culture, but even I draw the line somewhere.
14:54Katie Couric:Yeah, well, it's interesting. I remember getting in trouble because I was at some breakfast thing and somebody from Us Weekly said, what do you think of the Kardashians? And I said something like, I just don't understand why they're famous. and somebody on my talk show had sent Kim a baby present and then she posted, I guess that was printed in Us Weekly and she posted me as some like fake friend and I was like guilty. But now, honestly, I mean, you've got to hand it to the Kardashians. They are machines. They are a phenomenon like Real Housewives. And I think of these pop culture icons and people who have captured the public's imagination, and you have to give them credit for their marketing acumen and the fact that they are really filling a need in the public imagination for, you know.
16:04Oh, 100%. I totally give it up to them. It's not my thing, and I don't understand how it all began, you know. But why would we be doing the same thing? Why wouldn't you be trying to be an entrepreneur? I mean, you can't argue with the success at all, at all. But it's an unbelievable phenomenon. Yeah. Unbelievable. It's funny. I'm interviewing later today Jan Wenner.
16:38Katie Couric:Oh, right. Did he write a book? Yeah. I mean, it's amazing. And I was, I mean, talk about, I figured he's sort of the Steve Jobs of entertainment coverage. I mean, really, when you really think about it. And there's never been anything like the Kardashians. There was never anybody like them in the era where we all grew up watching. Right. It'll be interesting if you're if you talk to Jan about that. And also interesting because Rolling Stone just doesn't have the cultural cachet it once had. Oh, rock and roll doesn't. None of it. It's all over, which is fine. I mean, everything, you know, there's a season for everything, as the good book says.
17:23But it's over. You're not going to tell me it's over. I hope he says it's not over and we can fight because it's over. Nobody cares. They care about other things.
17:33Katie Couric:You don't think they care? About rock and roll? No, nobody cares about rock and roll. They care about music. They care about music for sure, but it's other types of music. It's just, you know, it's like, you know, I was watching Amadeus the other day, which is a great movie. I love that movie. Oh, my God. It's so good and worth revisiting. But you realize that was pop music in their time. So rock and roll was pop music in my time. It isn't anymore. Neither is the music of Mozart. So everything moves, everything. And to me, that's the thing, like, about trying to find the balance as I get older of open to new things, not judgmental about the stuff that was important to me that isn't anymore.
18:17And not to be the – what's the meme of the old man on the yard? Yeah. You know what I mean? Do you know what I'm saying? In my day, if you turned on the radio, there were artists who wrote their own music that meant something. You know, it's like you just you got to be fresh and and and realize the culture sees the things through the eyes of the people who are of that time.
18:42Katie Couric:Yeah, it's true. And it's it's no longer our time, Rob Lowe. It's no longer. We're over.
19:15um Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com, or just stop by. Grainger, for the ones who get it done.
19:24Katie Couric:A BetterHelp ad. Have you ever had so many tabs open that your computer starts slowing down? Life can feel like that too. BetterHelp's 2026 State of Stigma report found that 74 % of Americans believe society still discourages asking for help. Therapy can help you sort through what's taking up space and quietly affecting you. With BetterHelp, connect with a licensed therapist online and switch anytime. Maybe it's time to close a few tabs. Visit BetterHelp.com.
20:01So the paperback came out of going there.
20:04Katie Couric:It did. I love that. That means more people. I had no idea the power of paperbacks. It really is a thing. It's like all of a sudden you can throw it in your beach bag. Or when you're going on a little vacation. Hopefully. Yeah. There's going to be more ducats coming in, Ms. Corrick, from the paperback. Stand Up to Cancer, right? You were one of the original, the OGs of Stand Up to Cancer when that first came out. Yeah. Right? Yes. And was it Laura Ziskin? Laura Ziskin, Sherry Lansing. There's nine women. Lisa Paulson, who's head of the Entertainment Industry Foundation at the time. Kathleen Lobb, good friend of mine, Sue Schwartz, Rusty.
20:49Katie Couric:I mean, there's a whole crew of us. And we were actually, I was working on sort of trying to figure out a way to raise more money for cancer research. At the same time, Laura Ziskin, who was a very successful Hollywood producer who subsequently passed away while she was dealing with breast cancer. She and Sherry Lansing and some other women kind of wanted to do the same thing. So we joined forces and started Stand Up to Cancer with an emphasis on collaboration instead of competition with the focus on raising badly needed research dollars for all these brilliant scientists. So that was in 2008, I think when we had our first show and we've raised over$700 million for cancer research and established, you know, dozens of dream teams who are focused on a particular aspect of cancer.
21:53Katie Couric:So it's been, you know, it's been really exciting. I remember Rob walking into the Hollywood theater or whatever, one of the big theaters in LA. And just seeing these huge sets and all these stars and thinking, wow. And I always think of that Margaret Mead quote, never doubt the ability of a small group of committed people to change the world. And indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. I didn't get it quite right. But the fact that these women, you know, this nine women really frustrated by the pace of cancer research got together and said, we need to do something about this and did, is just remarkable to me.
22:47It's extraordinary. And from where I sit on it, it sort of – I know this probably wasn't the case, but it so arrived fully formed. I was a part of that first show and I walked in and had the same reaction. I mean, it was like the Academy Awards. Right. I mean, this was like no bus and truck version. I mean, you know what I'm saying? This was, it felt like it had existed forever in all the right ways. And I love the partnership with Major League Baseball is amazing. They do great things with that.
23:19Katie Couric:And MasterCard and a bunch of American Airlines and, you know, people like you who have stepped up and helped us through the years. it's been really remarkable and something I'm enormously proud of. And our researchers have contributed to, I think, nine new FDA-approved drugs for cancer. And I hope we're making more progress because we need to. There's still a lot of people who are dying of cancer, who are being diagnosed late. And it's really, really unacceptable. It sounds so simple. Sometimes when things sound so simple, I kind of go, yeah, there's gotta be more to it than that when it's so simple.
24:09But like, you know, you've been very vocal about getting your mammograms, you know, and you know, just - Colonoscopies. I'm overdue. I admit it. Get in there, dude. I've done it, but now I gotta do it again. and you know I lost my great grandma grandma and mother all to breast cancer so you know it's a it's a really is an important thing in my life I was the first male spokesman for breast cancer awareness back in the day back in the mid back in the 2000 I think it was something like that but that's job one right is is early detection yeah it totally is and you know I recently have
Read the full transcript
24:50Katie Couric:talked about what happened to me and the fact that, shockingly, I was diagnosed with a tumor the size of an olive in my left breast. I was six months late for my mammogram because I think COVID just kind of distorted our sense of time. And I think it got a lot of people off schedule because facilities shut down and we were understandably focused on how to eradicate COVID. And I feel so fortunate that they were able to diagnose this early, do a lumpectomy, give me radiation. Now I have to go on a medication to ensure that I don't have a reoccurrence. And And, you know, women just have to really advocate for their own health.
25:47And you have to, you know, you have to get your colonoscopy, Rob. And I'm literally, I think, I believe there's a reason for everything that you and I talk today. So when I'm done here, I'm going to book it. Okay, good. And, you know, women have to put it on their calendars and they have to stay on top of all their screenings.
26:09Katie Couric:And I didn't by six months. And I'm just really glad I went when I did and that I had access to incredible medical care. You know, one of the things I'm trying to do is educate women about dense breasts because half of, I mean, 45 to 50 % of all women 40 and over have dense breasts, which are indicated on a mammogram. and dense breasts make the tissue of like a potentially problematic area and the dense breast tissue itself are kind of indistinguishable. My breast radiologist described it as trying to find a snowball in a field of snow. And so for a lot of these women, breast ultrasounds are necessary or something called a fast MRI, which I think are in clinical trials across the country.
27:05Katie Couric:But so many women don't realize this and their doctors don't tell them and their insurance doesn't cover it. And I think that's just unacceptable because - So in other words, they go in for a mammogram, not knowing they have dense breasts, and the mammogram probably isn't going to be that helpful for them. Right. But they don't even know that. Right. So 38 states, and now I think the FDA is going to - going to implement a policy that requires all doctors in every state to inform a patient that they have dense breasts and be more specific about what that means. Because even in New York, my radiologist said, so we may say, or doctors in New York may say, by the way, you have dense breasts, your mammogram is fine.
27:54Katie Couric:So what do you do with that information? If you don't have the education to understand that, oh, well, maybe the mammogram can't see everything, and maybe it's helpful. Certainly, 3D mammograms are better than standard mammograms because they give a much fuller picture. But there's a chance that you need something, additional screening, and they don't tell women that. So now I'm trying to educate all those women. We're talking about millions of women, Rob, who, you know, half of all women who have this situation and they just, they don't know, A, to ask for additional screening and B, their insurance won't cover it.
28:42Katie Couric:So they don't get it because they can't afford it. And that to me is just unacceptable. So what's the fix if you could magically have the fix? I'm working with this congresswoman from Connecticut named Rosa DeLauro. And by the way, there have been a lot of amazing women who have gotten the laws changed in states. For example, in Ohio, now this great woman named Michelle Young, who's the mammogram missed her breast cancer. By the time she got an ultrasound, she was stage four, even though she had gone for mammograms every year. And so she got the law changed in Ohio, where aside from the deductible, that breast ultrasounds for women with dense breasts are now covered in the state of Ohio.
29:33Katie Couric:That is true in 14 states and the District of Columbia. And I believe two more states will have it go into effect early next year. But every state should have it. So Rosa DeLauro, I think, is introducing legislation that will require insurance companies to pay for additional screening for women with dense breasts. It's ironic because my sister Emily, who died of pancreatic cancer 21 years ago this week, when my husband Jay died of colon cancer, she was a state senator in Virginia, and she passed legislation in the state of Virginia that said insurance companies had to pay for screening colonoscopies starting at age 50.
30:18Katie Couric:Like no ifs, ands, or buts about it, so to speak. Now it's 45. With the age, you should start getting screened because more and more young people are being diagnosed with colorectal cancer. But after my sister Emily did that, I think 26 states followed suit and said, you have got to pay for screening colonoscopies. And it makes economic sense, Rob, because you think about how much money it costs to treat cancer. if you can diagnose it early, have, you know, do what I did, a lumpectomy and radiation. I didn't have to have chemotherapy. I think it makes financial sense too. Well, particularly if the theory is your insurance is going to pay for a mammogram and a mammogram is not effective for those numbers.
31:09Katie Couric:Or needs not effective enough, right? you know yeah for for the for this people had the for women have the dense breast things then then if you're already paying for the mammogram at least pay for what is going to actually give you the the information you need right which you're not currently not getting pay for it and also like let women know they need it sounds pretty basic doesn't it no this is good i i have this overwhelming thing of okay i gotta make sure cheryl's gonna i mean like yeah make sure cheryl's up to date and and and tell her to ask do i have dense breasts and if she does by the way And she has dense breast, so she knows this.
31:43I was aware of this, but I don't know. But it's interesting. I think she knows. So mammograms are not always, she for sure knows that, but I don't think that she's extrapolated it to. And by the way, I need to get the additional.
31:56Katie Couric:Yeah, ultrasound. Ultrasound. Tell her to look into that. Yeah, for sure.
32:07Katie Couric:A BetterHelp ad. Have you ever had so many tabs open that your computer starts slowing down? Life can feel like that too. BetterHelp's 2026 State of Stigma Report found that 74 % of Americans believe society still discourages asking for help. Therapy can help you sort through what's taking up space and quietly affecting you. With BetterHelp, connect with a licensed therapist online and switch anytime. Maybe it's time to close a few tabs. Visit BetterHelp.com.
32:43Tell me a little bit before we go also about Katie Couric Media. Oh, okay. Tell me what you're doing. What do you got cooked up over there, Katie Couric Media?
32:52Katie Couric:Well, you know, I had done sort of everything I could do in network television. For sure. Oh, my God, you have. And really enjoyed it. But I also love to work. And I think a lot like you, Rob, I'm endlessly curious about the world. and people and trends and what's going on. And so my husband and I, John has a finance background. He was a banker and he's a very astute business man. And he said, you know, we realized that, well, of course, everyone thinks they're a journalist now, but, you know, you don't really need a huge network operation. You don't have to have the infrastructure. It's nice, by the way.
33:37Katie Couric:And I really appreciated my colleagues and everything that I had access to when I worked at a network. But with disintermediation, the ability to go straight to consumers, just like other entrepreneurs, it provided an opportunity to be more entrepreneurial about information. And so we thought, well, you want to keep working. I wasn't ready to retire and drink pina coladas on the beach. And so basically we said, what can we do? So we started this company. We work primarily, our financial model is a little different. We work with purpose-driven brands who care about big issues like health and wellness or, you know, all the things you and I have been talking about, gender equality, racial justice, environmental sustainability, you know, all kinds of things because I don't know if you've read the Edelman Trust Barometer or the Business Roundtable, people want to work for companies and they want to buy from companies that care about more than just the bottom line.
34:49Katie Couric:They want to, you know, support companies that are trying to fix the world and come up with solutions for the planet. And, you know, as faith and institutions like government and financial institutions, and sadly, the media has declined. And I just read a Gallup survey that said more people distrust the media than trust the media now. Yeah, it was in the, I read it, it was in the 80s. Yeah. I mean, I mean, the 80%. Right. It was the, yeah. It was really, really heartbreaking. heartbreaking. And so a lot of companies are kind of taking up the slack of addressing some of these big issues. And so we work with some of these companies, these global brands, and we have a newsletter called Wake Up Call that you can get six mornings a week where we break down the news and have other interesting stories and information.
35:49Katie Couric:We have, obviously, I do a podcast as well called next question. I just interviewed Elizabeth Banks this morning about her new movie called Jane. She's so nice, by the way. And she's so smart. She's like you, Rob. You're very smart too. And then, so we do digital series. We do interviews. I'm developing some documentaries. Wow. How fun. Yeah, and some scripted projects. So, you know, I'm just trying to stay focused on important things that matter and use whatever waning influence I have left in a sea of influencers. No, you're a made woman. You're on the Mount Rushmore. You did it. Anything I can do to help keep people informed, to motivate them.
36:44Katie Couric:I, you know, like you, Rob, I have access to all these brilliant people in various arenas. And to be able to share their wisdom with other people is a real gift. And so that's what we're doing. We have about 40 employees now. Now it's also fun for me to mentor some young people who are interested in learning and honing some of the skills you need to be a good storyteller. So it's fun. And it's different, but it gives me a lot of flexibility. Plus, I think I can speak out a little bit more about issues I care about, like reducing gun violence or, you know, reproductive rights, which is such an important issue for women that it, you know, these rights are being so eroded, to say the least.
37:38Katie Couric:So, you know, I think I've earned that right to be able to talk about things I care about. And so that's what I'm able to do with this company. And you're still based in New York, right? Yeah, but we go to LA in the winter for a month or two. My older daughter, Ellie, is a writer for a show called The Boys, which is on Amazon. Oh, yeah, totally. Yeah, it's a great show. I know that show. It's great. Yeah, so she's in LA. She was married about a year ago, and she and her husband, Mark, live in Los Angeles. So it's fun for me to be able to visit her. Carrie lives in Brooklyn, so she's closer. But the older I get, the more I hate cold weather.
38:26Katie Couric:That's such a cliche. I guess I'm a snowbird, but I like to fly west instead of south. And look, New York is a young man, young woman's game. I really do believe that. I mean, I think everybody should live in New York. Their whole lives are wet, but you've got to do New York. Like you just have to. But it's also actually a good place for, I mean, we sound like we're getting ready for the nursing home, but it's also a good place for older people because if you like culture and if you like to walk and everything, you know, you walk outside and there's a restaurant. And, you know, so I see a lot of older New Yorkers really thriving here as well.
39:13Oh, that's interesting. But it makes sense, right? Yeah. You get your walk, you get your social. Because I have to fight the urge to be isolated because I'm around so many people shooting. I'm doing two television series at the same time.
39:28Katie Couric:That's incredible. Tell me about those because I – tell me the ones you're doing because one is on Fox, right? So one is on Fox and it's in its fourth season. It's Ryan Murphy co-created with Tim Minear. It's 9-1-1 Lone Star. So it's the 911 franchise. It's super successful and really fun. Great character. I get to do heroic and funny all at the same time. And it's a massive show. The scope of it is like a Michael Bay movie. It's just ginormous. So I get that. And then John Owen, who you know from Stanford, he and I co-created a show for Netflix, a comedy about fathers and sons. and we shot our first season, eight episodes.
40:17It comes out in March or April.
40:20Katie Couric:Oh, that's so exciting. And yeah, so I have both those and that's a goofy, funny, heartfelt, laugh out loud comedy sort of in the veins of Parks and Rec and Veep. That's sort of the tone of it. So super exciting, but that's a lot, you know, there's 150 people on every crew. right and you're you know as the you know creator and then lead actor you're the center of all the hubbub yeah so like my thing is i just i just need to unplug i need yeah i need to understand alone but i have to be careful i'm gonna end up like jeremiah johnson i'm gonna be here's the how's that for a current reference i don't think i don't think that's gonna happen rob you don't think i'm gonna up you have to have snowshoes to come visit me i'll be up in some shack i don't think Cheryl's going to let that happen.
41:12No, she's not. That's true. Luckily, I've got her to tether me to some semblance of culture.
41:20Katie Couric:Yeah. Well, when you come out, I would love to see you and I would love to do your podcast anytime you want. Just call me. Oh, that would be fun. That would be fun. You know, I always love seeing you. I always love talking to you. You're one of the nicest people on the planets and on the planet. Why did I say planets? Because you know that there are more planets out there because you know what's what. Come on, it's not just us. I mean, I'm as nice as anybody you'll ever meet on the Pleiades or on Sirius or, and I'm not talking about radio, I'm talking about the planet. We should do a podcast about recovery and adolescents and parents and dealing with that.
42:02We should do, because we're talking about sharing knowledge. That's what I love to speak on when I get half the chance. I speak on cancer awareness. Cancer is where I do a lot of work around the country on that, as you know. And then the other one I like to talk about is recovery and what it's like to raise adolescents in a world where part of being an adolescent is figuring out your relationship with drugs and alcohol.
42:26Katie Couric:Yeah. That makes me feel useful. Good, good. Good. Well, you're doing a lot of good out there. So thank you, Rob. Thank you. This is fun. This is great. Yeah.
42:42Amazing talk. What an amazing woman. Truly amazing. And I hope you guys took away from it what I took away from it. I immediately am calling Cheryl to make sure she gets her proper checkup. And And I think it'd be really great if you guys out there send a link to this to the appropriate people in your lives. A guy who's turned 45 for the colonoscopy. A woman in their life to get the mammograms. It would be really worthwhile. And it was a fun interview. Come on. It wasn't just take your medicine. Right? I mean, we do both things here, literally. We can have meaningful conversation and be goofy people as well.
43:24Come on now. All right. You know what time it is. It's time to check the lowdown line.
43:32Hello. You've reached literally in our lowdown line where you can get the lowdown on all things about me, Rob Lowe. 323-570-4551. So have at it. Here's the beep. Hello Rob, my name is Sally. I'm currently sitting in the British Airways Lounge at New York Airport, having just spent a week in New York celebrating my birthday, delayed by a year for the pandemic. But what I did is I threw lots of my friends in and we did what I love most in New York, which was going on Jane's carousel, eating banana pudding from Magnolia Bakery. That was my ideal birthday experience. So I would love to know, since I've worshipped you since I was very, very young, and I'm now very, very old, what would be your ideal birthday experience?
44:26Just an hour of a day. What would you do? Who would you have? Where would you go? What would you eat to make it your actually perfect birthday? I highly recommend James Carousel in Dumbo in New York, and I highly recommend Magnolia, Bagnana, Pudding. I don't have anything like that in England. So, yes, I was just wondering, because I'm listening to your podcast in the lounge, and you're getting me through the long wait to get on my plane to go home to my family. So thank you for your podcast. I love it. Tell me all about your ideal birthday. Thank you. Oh, you are so charming. I love that. And you're so right, by the way, about that magnolia pudding.
45:07Holy cow. It's so good. And I do love me a good carousel. I got to say, your birthday experience is nothing to sneeze at. So mine, well, I have a bunch of them. I would love to be skiing. My birthday is March 17th, St. Patrick's Day. So it always falls in a time where it's great spring skiing. I love skiing. It could be anywhere. It could be Europe. It could be Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It could be Whistler Black Home in Canada. It could be in Utah, all my favorite mountains. I always want to be with my boys. I always want to be with my sons. My wife doesn't really ski, so she'll be waiting for us to have what we want to be eating.
45:49The problem is you don't eat so great when you ski. You just don't. Unless you're in Europe. So maybe I need to come to like Zermatt and have like fondue. How about that? And in a whole other area, I would want to be in Bora Bora. French Polynesia is my favorite place in the world. snorkeling in the reef, looking at all the fish with my family and then having just some beautiful sort of French Polynesian food in our bathing suits, soaking wet. That's, boy, those sound good. You know what? I'm gonna book them. I'm making a phone call. I gotta go. Gotta make a phone call and do that. Thanks. Until next week, this is me signing off and I will see you back at Literally.
46:36you've been listening to literally with Rob Lowe produced by me Rob Schulte with help from associate producer Sarah Bagar our research is done by Alyssa Grawl the podcast is executive produced by Rob Lowe for low profile Adam Sachs Jeff Ross and Joanna Solitaroff at Team Coco and Colin Anderson at Stitcher all of the music on this podcast was composed by Devin Bryant
46:58Katie Couric:thanks for listening we'll see you next time on literally with Rob Lowe
47:11This has been a Team Coco production in association with Stitcher.
47:27Hey everybody, this is Paul Scheer. I host the comedy podcast, How Did This Get Made? along with June Diane Rayfield and Jason Manzoukas. and every week we break down the best of the worst movies ever made. This week on How Did This Get Made, we are celebrating our 400th episode by breaking down one of the most obscure movies that we have ever covered. It's a truly baffling rare gem. It's called Circus Island. It has a magical circus island, a weird family made up of multiple twins, and oh, by the way, everybody in the cast is related, and it centers on a man whose dream it is to be a trapeze artist.
48:00Oh, and there's a ghost too. You see, this movie is hard to break down. So why don't you just listen to us break it down by going to How Did This Get Made, wherever you get your podcasts. And remember, the movie that we're talking about is Circus Island. But if you fall in love with another title, listen to that as well.
From the publisher
We're looking back at Rob's 2022 conversation with the great Katie Couric! You'll hear how Katie learned to roll with the punches while interviewing, why it's important to always get your checkup, and Katie's thoughts on the evolution of journalism. All of this and a glimpse into Katie's new venture, "Katie Couric Media." Make sure to subscribe to the show on YouTube at YouTube.com/@LiterallyWithRobLowe! Got a question for Rob? Call our voicemail at 323-570-4551. Your question could get featured on the show!
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